Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-03-18
The Suffice.

Another missionary, q colleague on Mr..
Goperly. thus describes n of these
scenes, and we think it only due to orr
readers. in order that they may obtain
a right idea of the degradation OF women
in India. to quote il verbatim. True,
the snttee is now Il thing Of the past.
but it was of yesterday. n many mil
lions of living Hindoos can mem
these funeral pyres; whllc i'll estimating
all the needs which have brought about
the establishment of Zenana Missions,
it would be obviously incorrect to leave
out SO important a factor. Says tins
eyewitness, writing in 1928; 'One
Sabbath morning, after conducting
divine service, I saw q great crowd APP
~proaching. Intheir midst was % charpoy
NATIVE bedstead) borne by four men,
on which was lying the dead body OF .
man, and by his side, with the dead
mans head resting on her lap, sat his
wife; they we're proceeding to the banks
| of the Ganges, there to be consumed
together on the funeral pile. On arriv-
ing ct the spot, where all necessary
preparations had been made, the men
laid down their burden, and the poor
victim of superstition, supported by her
female friends, entered the so-called
sacred stream, bathed and performed,
according to the accustomed formula,
her devotions. These having been COM
pleted, she emerged from the river, and
her new clothes were taken from her
and were replaced by old ones. She
was now conducted to the fearful pile,
on which the dead BODY of her husband
had already been placed; and. accom-
panied by her friends, walked three
times round the pile, distributing to
the crowd handfuls of parched rice.
and dividing among her particular
friends the few silver and brass orna-
ments she possessed. She was then
assisted to mount the pile and was
placed by the side of the corpse, with
her arm under its head. A quantity of
rosin and. ghee Clarified butter), small
pieces of sandal-wood, and large
bundles of dry rushes,. were thrown on
the bodies; after which heavy logs of
wood We're placed on the top, render
ing the escape of the woman, If at
tempted, quite impossible. The mother
of the deceased man, being the nearest
relative, received from the officiating
Brahmins a handful OF compressed hay
containing smoldering fire, with which
she encompassed the pile three times,
and then, blowing the smoking hay into
a flame, she applied. it to the infiamma-
BILE materials, and several other
persons Immediately afterward using
the same, the whole mass became
ignited, and n huge sheet Of flame
devoured alike the living and tie dead.
The shouts Of the crowd, and the beat
ing of the drums drowned every other
sound; and whether the poor woman
suffered much or little, could not be
ascertained. The. Indifference mani
tested by the spectators was truly
frightful; some were singing lewd
songs, some fighting, others lewdly
dancing and the whole scene appeared
more like q riotous fair than the immo-
lation of a human being. The relations
Of the deceased We're %quarreling among
themselves as to who should pay the
fees OF the Brahmin and the under
taker; the former demanding 200
RUPEES, and the latter twenty-five
rupees. How it ended I know not, for
L hurried from the place. "%--,Suaeany
MugazI1e.